•Most comprehensive analysis of circular economy definitions in scholarly discourse.•221 definitions examined, many mentioning that a fundamental shift is needed for CE.•Questions linger regarding ...compatibility of sustainability and economic growth.•Varied understandings about CE can result in concept collapsing or being deadlocked.
In the past decade, use of the circular economy (CE) concept by scholars and practitioners has grown steadily. In a 2017 article, Kirchherr et al. found that the CE concept is interpreted and implemented in a variety of ways. While multiple interpretations of CE can enrich scholarly perspectives, differentiation and fragmentation can also impede consolidation of the concept. Some scholarship has discussed these trends in context-specific cases, but no large-scale, systematic study has analysed whether such consolidation has taken place across the field. This article fills this gap by analysing 221 recent CE definitions, making several notable findings. First, the concept has seen both consolidation and differentiation in the past five years. Second, definitional trends are emerging that potentially have more meaning for scholarship than for practice. Third, scholars increasingly recommend a fundamental systemic shift to enable CE, particularly within supply chains. Fourth, sustainable development is frequently considered the principal aim of CE, but questions linger about whether CE can mutually support environmental sustainability and economic development. Finally, recent studies argue that CE transition relies on a broad alliance of stakeholders, including producers, consumers, policymakers, and scholars. This study contributes an updated systematic analysis of CE definitions and conceptualizations that serves as an empirical snapshot of current scholarly thinking. It thereby provides a basis for further research on whether conceptual consolidation is needed and how it can be facilitated for practical purposes.
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•First comprehensive and systematic analysis of circular economy (CE) definitions in the current scholarly and practitioner discourse.•114 definitions examined; some definitions mistake CE as ...recycling, link to sustainable development (particularly social equity) weak.•Variety of understandings can result in CE concept eventually collapsing or ending up in conceptual deadlock.
The circular economy concept has gained momentum both among scholars and practitioners. However, critics claim that it means many different things to different people. This paper provides further evidence for these critics. The aim of this paper is to create transparency regarding the current understandings of the circular economy concept. For this purpose, we have gathered 114 circular economy definitions which were coded on 17 dimensions. Our findings indicate that the circular economy is most frequently depicted as a combination of reduce, reuse and recycle activities, whereas it is oftentimes not highlighted that CE necessitates a systemic shift. We further find that the definitions show few explicit linkages of the circular economy concept to sustainable development. The main aim of the circular economy is considered to be economic prosperity, followed by environmental quality; its impact on social equity and future generations is barely mentioned. Furthermore, neither business models nor consumers are frequently outlined as enablers of the circular economy. We critically discuss the various circular economy conceptualizations throughout this paper. Overall, we hope to contribute via this study towards the coherence of the circular economy concept; we presume that significantly varying circular economy definitions may eventually result in the collapse of the concept.
Using the sharing economy (SE) as the context, this article provides a coherent and nuanced methodological understanding of automated content analysis (ACA) in tourism and hospitality (TH) field. By ...adopting a comparative ACA approach, the paper compares the current TH Western academic literature of the SE with news media discourse in TH from the period 2011-2016 (August) (inclusive). The emerging issues from the news media discourse, such as mobility, SE companies and the role of government, are absent in current tourism academic research. Findings reveal that ACA can facilitate a more systematic comparison between different sources of data. This paper offers a starting point for tourism scholars to methodologically engage with ACA that can draw useful insights on a particular context.
Abstract Background Skilled and sensitive communication with patients who have cancer is essential to nursing practice. Often, Chinese patients with cancer do not explicitly express their concerns ...and needs. Nurses thus might not be able to respond to or miss cues and concerns expressed by patients. We aimed to investigate this gap, and appraise patterns of nurse–patient communication through cue-responding behaviours, and to explore with nurses ways of enhancing their practice. Methods We aim to assess a sample of oncology nurses working at a government hospital in Hong Kong and their patients. Written consent from those nurses who volunteer to participate and patients will be obtained. Ward observations, interviews with nurses and patients, and a checklist of patients' concerns will be done, and audio of nurse–patient communication and observed non-verbal communication cues will be obtained. Nurses' documentation on communication with patients will also be assessed. Only the events of admission, discharge, and routine care are to be studied. Before the nurses approach patients, a research assistant will complete a checklist of patients' concerns. The nurse–patient conversations during these events will be audio-recorded and the non-verbal communication cues taken in field notes. Patients will then be interviewed for their satisfaction of the communication and asked to complete the checklist again for changes in the extent of concerns or needs. Content analysis will be performed on the field notes, observations, interviews and document review. Cue-responding patterns, number of cues or concerns explored and not explored by nurses will be identified. Statistical analysis will be used to analyse determinants of the nurses' cue-responding behaviours. The study has been approved by the Research Ethics Committees of the Kowloon West Cluster and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Findings Data collection is underway. 25–30 nurses and 75–90 patients will be recruited. Preliminary findings will be available in late September, 2016. Interpretation This study could enhance the quality of time nurses spent with patients and improve patient satisfaction. It might improve patient safety, reduce hospital readmission, and reduce health-care costs. Funding The General Research Fund of the Research Grants Council in Hong Kong.
Abstract Background The Report on the Work of the Government, an important manifesto of the Chinese administration, provides a fundamental and comprehensive outline for public policy-making annually. ...For health policy researchers, the report provides unique insights that cannot be found in documents within the health-care sector, since the report addresses health issues together with other social concerns. This study uses government work reports to analyse how health issues have been framed and associated with other crucial agendas within the Chinese Government. Methods A descriptive content analysis was done to examine the classifications, characteristics, frequency, and distribution of health issues elaborated in the 48 government work reports published during 1954–2016. Health issues were identified by extracting texts containing one or more of the following keywords: medicine, hygiene, health, drug, disease, and family planning. Network analysis was applied to investigate what issues are most likely associated with health issues, and how subtopics are connected under the concept of health care and hygiene. Findings Although the words hygiene, health care, or medicine appeared in all 48 reports, health issues were explicitly addressed in 42 reports, ten of which only briefly mentioned the subject (<100 words). Health issues received much more attention in recent decades: as a proportion of total word count, text on health issues in the reports rose from an average of 1·72% (SD 1·29) during 1954–77, to 1·87% (1·02) during 1978–87, to 2·62% (0·84) during 1988–2003, and to 5·40% (1·35%) during 2004–16. Some issues were often mentioned before or after health, including education, culture, and sports. Other issues closely relevant to health care, such as family planning and elderly care, were frequently discussed together. The variation of subtopics through time shows how the government shifts focus in the health care sector. For example, health reform appeared first in the 1983 report, but it was not until 1993 that health reform became a focus and remained in all reports afterwards. Interpretation This historical overview helps understanding of how the development of the Chinese health system has been propelled by government commitments. Funding Peking University Medical College Junior Researcher Development Program.
The rotating EU presidency's relevance for EU politics has decreased since the introduction of a permanent council president. However, news salience and framing of the own government acting as the EU ...presidency can amplify publicity for EU affairs. We, therefore, evaluate the visibility and framing of the EU presidency in 12 Austrian newspapers for 2009–2019. We conduct an automated text analysis of 22 presidencies over 11 years, testing several hypotheses statistically, and qualify results via manually coded frames of the Austrian EU presidency in 2018. The results confirm the crucial importance of the domestication of EU politics, underscoring the potential of the presidency to serve as a window of opportunity for public debate. We discuss our findings with reference to the EU's democratic deficit.
Business-to-business (B2B) marketers hesitate to embrace social media as a marketing tool, unlike their business-to-consumer (B2C) counterparts, and they struggle to implement successful social media ...strategies due to their limited understanding of the phenomenon. Drawing on communication and word-of-mouth theories, the authors investigate how marketers use Twitter differently across contexts and predict key factors likely to influence the message strategies used in each. A longitudinal content analysis and logistic regression support the assessment of a sample of more than 7000 tweets by Fortune 500 companies. Marketers in B2B and B2C settings exhibit significant differences in their branding and selling strategies; their use of message appeals; and the use of cues, links, and hashtags to support information searches. Whereas B2B marketers tend to use more emotional than functional appeals in their tweets, neither B2C nor B2B marketers have adopted “hard sell” message strategies.
•This paper analyzes Twitter communications for Fortune 500 companies.•B2B tweeting strategies are different than those for B2C.•B2B marketers use corporate brand names, functional appeals, and information search cues/links more frequently than B2C.•Emotional appeals are more frequent than functional appeals within B2B communications.
Imaging flow cytometry (IFC) captures multichannel images of hundreds of thousands of single cells within minutes. IFC is seeing a paradigm shift from low- to high-information-content analysis, ...driven partly by deep learning algorithms. We predict a wealth of applications with potential translation into clinical practice.
Background In an effort to protect the health and safety of the unborn child, the Scottish Government in collaboration with National Health Services (NHS) Health Scotland implemented screening and ...alcohol brief interventions (ABIs) in a range of health care settings, including antenatal care setting. Yet while there is strong evidence of the benefits of screening and ABIs in reducing hazardous and harmful drinking among primary care population, evidence of their effectiveness with the antenatal care population is limited. Further, the few studies evaluating screening and ABIs in antenatal care settings have tended to rely on randomised controlled trials which often produce inconsistent findings regarding their effectiveness. Moreover, they do not give adequate account of why the intervention worked or not. Realist evaluation focuses on which aspects of the intervention work for whom, how and under what circumstances. In this study we aimed to use realist evaluation design to increase understanding of the factors likely to influence the effectiveness of the recently implemented screening and ABIs in Scottish antenatal setting, delivered at the first antenatal visit. Methods The study employed a realist evaluation methodology, where a priori program theories were first identified through systematic reviews and face-to-face policy implementers’ interviews data. The program theories were tested and later refined using interviews and focus group data with pregnant women and midwives. The qualitative data was analysed by thematic content analysis. Results Training and resources provided to midwives improved their skills and confidence. However, as many of the women reported to have reduced or abstained from alcohol in pregnancy, most of the midwives had not subsequently employed the motivational interviewing skills acquired from training. Midwives’ confidence therefore decreased leading to missed opportunities to appropriately deliver ABIs to eligible women. Further, it negatively affected midwives’ attitudes as they then accorded ABIs low priority in their workload. Lack of adequate rapport at the first antenatal interview also led to women providing socially desirable responses to alcohol consumption questions. Conclusion As trust-based relationships are essential to effective screening and ABI delivery, delivering them at the first antenatal visit when they are likely to make the most impact, may be particularly challenging and may require adequate motivational interviewing skills. However, the limited number of ABI delivered in antenatal care require that midwives may need on-going support to sustain their motivation and skills in order to ensure benefits for the few pregnant women who are drinking at hazardous and harmful levels.
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